


Linda

by von_gikkingen



Category: Black Panther (2018), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Betrayal, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Family, Gen, Minor Character(s), Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-12
Updated: 2019-08-12
Packaged: 2020-08-19 22:08:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,673
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20217058
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/von_gikkingen/pseuds/von_gikkingen
Summary: Minor, borderline narratively insignificant characters matter too... should, anyway...(and, okay, I might have gotten a little angry that I have to google her name every time because it slips my mind because of course it does, I don't think anyone said it once...) (just felt this sudden need to make her feel like an actual person, someone that had a life beyond her role in this story... mostly I was just angry, and it's a truth universally acknowledged that  angry gets shit done) (which would explain why I got this finished in under two hours... hopefully doing a decent job of adding a dimension to her beyond "expendable presumed love interest")





	Linda

It happens fast. _Really _fast. She’s nowhere near done processing the fact that, going by what she can see in the rearview mirror, Klaue just pushed her boyfriend out of a moving car. And then she can hear his voice, a little indistinctly, telling her that, “You’re fired too, by the way. I’m just going to be less dramatic about it.”

“What…?” is all she can manage to say.

“You had no idea, did you?”

She doesn’t answer because if her expression doesn’t tell him she has no idea about anything right now there really is no point telling him. Instinctively she reaches for the door…

But she stops herself. The van is moving too fast and there’s no doubt that the Wakandans have him by now. She has to be pragmatic about this. This isn’t the kind of situation in which she can go with her first instinct. She has to think. She does if she wants to live, anyway.

“He was good, I’ll give him that much,” says Klaue and as ever he sounds more amused than anything else. “I really had no idea. Not until just now. He really should have hidden the ring better.”

“The… ring…” she repeats, uncomprehending. “He said that used to belong to…”

“His father, right? Yeah, that’s who I saw wearing it the last time. This was some years back. Long story. The point is I just dodged a bullet. Unless he was gonna knife me in the back,” says the South African and _why _does he sound so amused about it…?

“He wasn’t,” she replies, feeling numb.

“That’s adorable,” he chuckles. “But he definitely was. And I don’t even wanna know how many trust issues is this going to leave you with. Or how you’re going to finance getting the professional help you’ll need to get over them. Because as I said – super fired.”

“I don’t think that’s my biggest problem right now.”

He starts laughing and she knows – if there wasn’t a dividing wall between them she would have punched him right about now.

But that is not something she can afford to do. Not when she just became so very expendable…

* * *

“Oh, come on. Is this the first time someone lied to you?” he says and his smile is on the cruel side. Which comes as no surprise. Because when they were giving out empathy this guy clearly decided that, no, he was good.

“First time someone lied to me about everything,” she hears herself say, her voice so hollow she almost doesn’t recognize it.

“Do you need a hug?”

She looks at him then because she couldn’t stop herself if she tried. Because if anyone ever deserved a glare…

“Half a hug,” he says, completely ignoring her murderous expression. “Might have displaced the spare. Really didn’t think I’ll need it…” he shakes his head, glancing down at his missing arm.

“You’re just having the worst day, aren’t you?” she replies sarcastically. “That must be terrible for you.”

“No one likes a smartass, Linda,” he says. But he’s clearly willing to let that one go. She’d know if he didn’t. There'd be a bullet in her if that was the case…

“So what happens now?” she asks.

“Now we get the hell out of here,” he says, pointing to the plane. “Did we not discuss what the escape plan was?”

“Yes, but... Am I coming with…?”

“Aren’t you?” he frowns.

“I was under the impression I was fired.”

He laughs and it takes all her self-control not to tell him to cut it off. This constant cackling is really getting on her nerves.

“Just get on the plane before I change my mind,” Klaue tells her. And for once it’s a relief to have someone telling her what to do. Because if she was left to her own devices right now she’d probably just curl up into a ball and stay that way forever.

“I have to make a call,” she realizes when she takes her seat and settles down for a very long, _very _uncomfortable flight to Johannesburg.

“Good one,” comments Klaue and takes her phone from her unresisting hand for good measure.

“_Please_,” she says, taking a shuddering breath.

“Who do you need to call?”

She tells him. Thinking about it for a second he hands her the phone back and she dials the number. And she says a few words to the person on the other side, as soon as she’s done swearing at her over her inability to account for the time difference and…

And she feels a lot better after that. Because at least there's one thing she can still trust. At least that much is still true.

* * *

“Just say it. You told me to dump him.”

“Maybe I shouldn’t have. Reverse psychology always worked better on you,” says her sister, shaking her head sadly. “Are you okay?”

“No. But I will be. As soon as you do the thing.”

“Oh, you don’t want me to do the thing,” says Alice, looking uneasy.

“No, I really do,” she insists. Because her sister is the most amazing liar she ever met. It’s impossible to doubt her. She could convince you everything was just fine while you were trapped in a burning room. And just this once she really needed her to use her powers to… to make this horrible mess of emotions go away.

Because if she doesn’t hear it from her the sense of betrayal would never go away, she's certain. It would just become a fixture of her life. Something that’s with her, always.

It’s clear Alice is able to read as much in her eyes because after a few seconds she just takes a breath and slowly, deliberately, says the words. Says them like she believes them with all her heart and that is what always sells the lies, no matter how improbable. That she _believes_.

And she absolutely believes it when she tells her, “_This too shall pass_.”

“Thanks, sis,” she whispers into her hair, later, after Alice envelops her in a hug.

“You know how to thank me, Lin.”

“Make better choices…?” she laughs a little.

“I mean… every now and then, you know? Just for a change of pace.”

They let go of one another and when their eyes meet again they just nod in some unspoken agreement.

“Do you want to go home?”

“I don’t even know where that would be…” she whispers and it's horrible how true those words sound where she hears them spoken out loud.

“Will wherever I am do for now?” wonders Alice.

Linda just smiles.

And as she nods her agreement she can feel a tear starting to run down her face. The first one, she realizes. Because for everything that happened she didn’t cry. Not a single tear, not for him. It felt very important not to do that.

But she could cry over this, she found. She could spare a few tears for the unfairness of it – how she managed to end up with a sister someone like her frankly didn’t deserve. A sister that would drop everything and get on the first plane and…

_This_ was the kind of love that was all one had to cling to in this life. Everything else was just a fleeting distraction. She really could believe that right now.

She could believe it with all her heart.

* * *

“What’s this?”

“Severance. That one bullied me into bringing it and frankly I’m still not so sure how she did it…” says Klaue, narrowing his eyes in a kind of vague suspicion at Alice. “Just take it before I change my mind.”

“This is too much,” she comments after quickly checking the amount of the bills in the envelope.

“Yeah, well, someone didn’t leave a forwarding address,” he shrugs. “And I figure he owes you for emotional damages.”

“Why are you like this?” she asks her former employer when she’s done staring at him in wordless disbelief at what just came out of his mouth.

“Because I was just minding my own business one day and then a psychotic robot showed up and sliced off a piece of me. A thing like that can do a lot to your priorities.”

“Your priorities being… to be as insensitive as humanly possible?” she guesses, suddenly really glad this man will be out of her life as soon as this conversation is over.

“I mean… I wouldn’t say I was that bothered by anyone’s feelings before.”

“No kidding,” utters Alice before adding, “That would be our business concluded. Time for you to go.”

He doesn’t argue. She still feels the need to walk him to the door, just for the sense of closure being able to close it after him will bring her.

“Your sister is ridiculously hot,” he comments because of course he would.

“She is. And she has all these reserves of self-respect, too. So, you know what that does to your chances…”

He just laughs, apparently not one bit insulted. “You’ll be just fine,” he comments. And it’s definitely not a question. More like his professional opinion. For a moment she almost has to wonder – how many of his relationships ended this disastrously…?

But then she realizes she really doesn’t want to know. She just wants him gone.

“How long did you say you were working for that guy…?” says Alice, shaking her head, the distaste clear on her face.

“Don’t. In my line of work that’s what I’m stuck with when it comes to employers. At least I’m done with this one. And if there’s any justice in the world they’ll come after him again and have more success this time,” she says, smiling a little at the thought.

“You could tip them off, you know. Make sure that happens,” comments Alice.

“No,” she says, a lot more decisively than she thought she would. “I’m done with Wakandans.”

“And there you go, making a good decision,” grins her sister. “I knew you had it in you.”

“Oh, shut up.”

**Author's Note:**

> Minor, borderline narratively insignificant characters matter too... should, anyway...  
(and, okay, I might have gotten a little angry that I have to google her name every time because it slips my mind because of course it does, I don't think anyone said it once...) (just felt this sudden need to make her feel like an actual person, someone that had a life beyond her role in this story... mostly I was just angry, and it's a truth universally acknowledged that angry gets shit done) (which would explain why I got this finished in under two hours... hopefully doing a decent job of adding a dimension to her beyond "expendable presumed love interest")


End file.
